Free software is simply software that respects our freedom — our freedom to learn and understand the software we are using. Free software is designed to free the user from restrictions put in place by proprietary software, and so using free software lets you join a global community of people who are making the political and ethical assertion of our rights to learn and to share what we learn with others.

The FSF has launched a campaign to persuade organizations to make their Web sites work without requiring that users run any nonfree JavaScript. Users are uniting to focus on one site at a time -- currently, greenpeace.org.

This is the latest installment of our Licensing and Compliance Lab's series on free software developers who choose GNU licenses for their works. In this edition, we interviewed Bernd Kreuss, the developer of TorChat, a peer-to-peer instant messenger with a completely decentralized design.

RMS was in the Centro de Eventos of the Universidad de Passo Fundo, in Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on July 1st, 2013, to deliver his speech "A Free Digital Society," to an audience of over four hundred professionals, students, and teachers in the IT field.

On August 3rd, 2013, RMS was at the InterContinental Hotel, in Berlin, Germany, where he was inducted in the Internet Hall of Fame, in recognition of his contributions as an innovator and for founding the Free Software Foundation.

Conservancy recently raised funds to begin work on an FSF-endorsed free software non-profit accounting system and now seeks the talent of an experienced systems analyst and software designer to complete a six-month contract project (with the possibility of extension).

The Libre.fm and GNU FM developers outline the importance of using free software to combat surveillance and add that with the 30th anniversary of the GNU project coming in September, now is an important time for all GNU projects to work together on providing replacements to sites that users cannot control.

Tens of thousands of people visit directory.fsf.org each month to discover free software. Each entry in the Directory contains a wealth of useful information, from basic category and descriptions to version control, IRC channels, documentation, and licensing. The Free Software Directory has been a great resource to software users over the past decade, but it needs your help staying up-to-date with new and exciting free software projects.

To help, join our weekly IRC meetings on Fridays. Meetings take place in the #fsf channel on irc.gnu.org, and usually include a handful of regulars as well as newcomers. Everyone's welcome.

The next meeting is Friday, September 6th from 2pm to 5pm EDT (18:00 to 21:00 UTC). Details here:

Every month on LibrePlanet, we highlight one resource that is interesting and useful -- often one that could use your help.

For this month, we are highlighting the list of GNU 30th anniversary satellite events, which provides information about celebrations for the GNU system's 30th anniversary occurring around the world. You are invited to adopt, spread and improve this important resource.

Contributions from thousands of individual members enable the FSF's work. You can contribute by joining at https://www.fsf.org/join. If you're already a member, you can help refer new members (and earn some rewards) by adding a line with your member number to your email signature like:

The FSF is also always looking for volunteers (https://www.fsf.org/volunteer). From rabble-rousing to hacking, from issue coordination to envelope stuffing -- there's something here for everybody to do. Also, head over to our campaign section (https://www.fsf.org/campaigns) and take action on software patents, DRM, free software adoption, OpenDocument, RIAA and more.